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Anchored at Ile du Bic

Soon we pick up a St. Lawrence River Pilot.

The weather is windless and clear. We can see both sides of the 10 miles wide St. Lawrence River…high topography on both sides.  A little bit like A good day to be motoring…if one must motor a distance with a sail vessel.

We anchored for the night at Ile du Bic. It is a small uninhabited island/bird sanctuary located about 30 miles east of the Saguenay River.  We arrived in dungeon fog at 2245 hours and did not see anything of the island until 1000 hours this morning when the fog lifted. The coast line is similar to that of Maine and Nova Scotia.  Although inhabited, there are plenty of seals.  We could hear them last night – all night, and finally got to see them today.

After we pick up a pilot we will motor past the entrance of the Saguenay River.  The confluence of the Saguenay and the St. Lawrence is a popular area for the Beluga Whale. Maybe we will see some this trip. I have seen them on several previous trips back in the 1980s and the 1990s, but not in the 21st Century.  This trip of the St. Lawrence past the Saguenay will be the 4th one this decade, with no whales sighted during any of them.  So, what has happened to the Beluga Whale?

Signed,
Jan C. Miles, Captain aboard Pride of Baltimore II